[0:00] Well, take your Bibles with me, if you would, to the book of Ephesians, chapter 6 and verse 1. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1. Before I get into the Scripture, I'd like to just speak a second to the young people that are in here.
[0:17] The Bible says in chapter 6 and verse 1 that you are to obey your parents and the Lord. Why? Look at it. For this is right.
[0:30] You are to obey your parents and the Lord. In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 21, the Bible says, children, obey your parents in all things.
[0:42] So you live at home. You live with your parents. You are to obey your parents in all things. What's good about that? Well, God said, you want to please me?
[0:53] That's well-pleasing. If a kid wants to know how to please God, obey their parents. Could I get an amen right there? Look at that. It says, this is well-pleasing unto the Lord.
[1:05] Colossians 3, 21. Every young person, you ought to go and underline that in your Bible. If you want to please God, you can know that when you obey your parents and all the things that they're leading you and teaching you to do, it is well-pleasing to our Lord.
[1:20] To honor thy father and thy mother. Honor. It was a whole lot more than obeying. Most of us left home. I left home when I was 17 to go to college.
[1:31] And I've been on my own basically since then. But my life ought to be lived to honor my parents. I don't necessarily obey them, but I ought to always think, boy, how does this reflect on dad?
[1:45] How does this reflect on dad? I wonder if mom and dad could be proud. I wonder if mom and dad could walk around going, boy, I am glad that's my boy. If that's not the way you're living, you ought to get that right.
[1:56] That's not doing the message. I want to talk to fathers. But every child, every person, everybody who's got a dad and a mom ought to know. By the way, it doesn't matter if they've died or not. Even if they're in heaven, I want to honor them.
[2:08] And the Bible says that that's the first commandment with promise. That means God said, you know what? This is the first time I give you something I want you to do. And if you do this, I'll do this. You know what he said he'd do?
[2:19] He said, it'll be well with you. Look at verse 3. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 3. He said, it'll be well with you. It'll be well with you. God's going to watch over you. God's going to bless you.
[2:31] God's going to work in your life. And then it says, and you will live long on the earth. You will live long on the earth. God was going to bless living for them.
[2:42] Don't you ever adopt this new thing. It's in 2021 where you think dads and moms don't matter.
[2:57] That's of the stinking devil. God get an amen there. You ought to love your mama and your daddy. You ought to honor your parents. You know, when I was a kid, I was often reminded when I left home, do you know what your last name is?
[3:12] I mean, did anybody else get reminded of that when you left home? If you did say amen. I was like, I know what my last name is. What do you got to ask that every time I leave for? Because, you know, when you do wrong, it reflects on your parents.
[3:24] Amen. When you go to church and honor Jesus, that reflects on your parents. It's a big deal. A couple of times in my life, you know, the bad thing about living in a very small place is that everything you do, they all know your parents.
[3:39] And that is not always the best. So one day, I'd been smoking some cigarettes. Don't tell anybody that. But I was trying to be cool. I never really smoked, but I was in high school and all the other people were smoking.
[3:52] And so when they'd smoke, I'd smoke a few with them, you know. And I was at the dentist's office. And the dentist says, you've been smoking.
[4:03] I said, no, I have not. He said, well, the back of your teeth say you have. He said, I think I'll have to talk to Charlie.
[4:14] That's my daddy. I was like, oh, God, I never, please don't do that. You tell my daddy, it'll be the last time I ever smoke, I promise. It'll be the last time I ever breathe on this planet.
[4:25] Amen. I was driving somewhere and I was cutting up on the road and the cop pulled me over. And he pulls me over and he comes up to the car and he said, Gardner, are you Gomer's boy?
[4:39] Because at work they call my daddy Gomer because he whistled all the time. And I knew then, you do not want them to know you, but you are to honor your parents.
[4:50] Amen. I read this this morning. Actually, I had no intentions of sharing this with you until I read it early morning. It's an article by a guy named Theodore Roosevelt Mollick.
[5:01] You say, who is he? No idea. But it was an article that came out in my news feed this morning. And it titled his article, Father Knew Best and He Can Again. This is some highlights.
[5:14] Father's Knew Best. He starts off with a picture of the old TV program and the dad walking out and all. He said, Father's Knew Best. They were wise, authoritative, caring, loving, and essential.
[5:27] But in today's popular imagination, all that is past tense. Why have fathers fallen so far out of favor?
[5:39] Will they ever make a comeback? Or is the era of the two-parent family, safe, stable neighborhoods, two cars in every garage, a truth that has been?
[5:51] Should we even bother celebrating fathers at all anymore? In our postmodern, hip, urban, feminized, totally woke culture?
[6:03] Many say we can just do without them. The numbers do not look good at all. They're appalling, bad, and getting worse.
[6:13] The share of families headed by single parents in America now stands at, listen to this, 75% of African-American homes are without a dad or have a single parent, 60% of Hispanic families, 38% of white families, 20% of Asian families.
[6:36] Fathers have exited. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than one in four children, nearly 20 million, live without a father in the home.
[6:49] According to that, 72% of the U.S. population is now fatherless. They're absentee dads. It's taboo even to mention them.
[7:03] You know, masculine males, that is. Can't mention them positively. If you did, you're called misogynic, sexist, racist, homophobic, toxic, whatever.
[7:16] That's certainly true when it comes to fathers. Karl Marx wrote an article called The Abolition of the Family, and he said, the nuclear, that's Karl Marx, that's a communist guy.
[7:30] The nuclear family performs an ideological function for capitalism. The family acts as a unit of consumption, teaches passive acceptance of hierarchy. It's the institution through which wealth passes down their private property to their children, and thus reproducing class inequality.
[7:49] Doing away with fathers has been the longstanding policy of progressiveness. Evidence in welfare policies, food stamp programs, housing, marriage penalties, and taxation.
[8:03] When you encourage and incentivize something, you generally get it. When you don't, or worse, penalize it, you destroy it. I want you to go with me to Ephesians chapter 6.
[8:16] I am so glad God let me be a dad. One of the most exciting things that's ever happened in my life. I married Betty in 1973, August the 18th, 1973.
[8:28] That was the best thing that ever happened to me after getting saved. But I will never forget the day Chris was born, our oldest son. From the moment Betty found out she was pregnant, I prayed and begged God for a son that I would call Christopher.
[8:45] We didn't do ultrasounds. We didn't know anything about that back then. Rich people probably did. Y'all probably did, but my crowd didn't. And so we found out what they were when they got out of the womb.
[8:58] You know, when they got here, I'm going to say what I want to say. He was born. Man, I was so excited.
[9:09] I prayed all those months. People said, is it going to be a boy or a girl? I said, it'll be a boy. His name's going to be William Christopher. William for me and Christopher for Christbearer. And God let him be born.
[9:22] I asked God to never let me have any girls. I did not want to have, I did not want to be a dad to girls. And so I'm sitting in that little waiting room, you know, off to the side.
[9:33] Because back then you didn't get to go in the room. Now the whole family's in the room. Back then you sat with your buddies and drank Coke and ate cookies and crackers waiting on the kid to get here. And so the doctor came in or the nurse, whoever it was, came in and said, Well, congratulations, Mr. Gardner.
[9:50] Mr. Gardner, I was like 22. I said, hey, congratulations, Mr. Gardner. You got a little girl. I went, aw. Because you keep training a little girl to be a preacher. Amen. So I went in and saw her through the window because I wasn't going to be able to see her.
[10:04] But about, you know, 30 minutes a day. You know how the communists were back then. And I saw her and my heart exploded and I fell in love. And I was the daddy of a little girl. And I named her Stephanie after Stephen after somebody crowned of God.
[10:19] And I wanted that to be. Anyway, God gave us four children. Now we have 21 grandchildren. It's a blessing. The scriptures are clear. And I want to talk to you dads about what we ought to do as dads.
[10:30] And I want you kids to understand everything I'm about to tell you. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible. And so sometimes you kind of judge your dad. You don't like your dad for what he's doing. But if your dad's doing the biblical thing, he's going to be like one of them old-fashioned fathers.
[10:45] Contrary to what they're telling you at the public school you go to. He's going to be a guy that leads us home. Say amen. Hey, kids, you say amen. He's going to be somebody that spanks your little rear.
[10:57] Say amen. You say, I don't like that. I don't care what we like. I didn't like it a bit. My dad used to have the nerve to say, this hurts me worse than it does you. And I used to think to myself, when I get big enough, I'm going to whoop you and ask you if it hurts me worse.
[11:11] We'll figure this out. Then I figured it out. So number one, I want you to write down just five little things if you have time. Number one, the father that knows best disciplines his children.
[11:24] The father that knows best disciplines his children. You children ought to understand. If your dad loves you, he disciplines you. If your dad loves you, he disciplines you.
[11:35] If your dad doesn't discipline you, he doesn't love you according to what the holy scriptures say. And by the way, the discipline mentioned in the Bible is corporal punishment.
[11:46] Let me put that in young people talk. Get your rear beat. That's what that means. So if your dad spanks you, you should say, thank God he loves me. You don't have to like it while he's doing it, but you can know he loves you.
[11:57] The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, and I'm just going to real quickly go through it because the time is going to get away from me. But he says, he says, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons.
[12:11] For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Do you know if you're a born again child of God, he spanks you. The Bible uses in Hebrews chapter 12, he uses the word scourge in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 6.
[12:26] That's the word for whipping. He uses that to say, if your dad loves you, and he says, actually, if your dad doesn't spank you, then you are probably not his.
[12:40] You're probably not his. There are some kids I wish that somebody would spank, but they're not mine, so I just have to wish somebody would. But say, man, when we were in Peru, there's one of the, all these young guys, I'm training them nowadays.
[12:54] They're all old men, and they're granddads or whatever, but, or dads, and I don't guess they're granddads yet. But one of the guys, one of the Peruvians had a child, and he named the kid Grace, Gracia.
[13:08] He named the kid Grace, and this kid squalled all the time, and mom and dad never spanked him. And so, I spanked this little girl, Grace, and never spanked her. And they would always say to me, they should have named that kid Disgrace.
[13:21] And I said, I'm going to remind you of that when you get your own. Amen. And quite often, I had to say to them, maybe you should do what you said he should do. The father who knows best will teach his children to obey and honor their parents.
[13:35] That's what the Bible said. And so, if every kid in this room ought to get that, and every parent, dads, don't let everybody tell you not to discipline your kids. Don't you buy into this newfangled, time them out or something.
[13:49] Take away their iPad. You can take away their iPad after you whip them, or while you're whipping them, or before you're whipping them. But take a, give them some discipline. Genesis chapter 18 and verse 19, the father who knows best commands his children after him.
[14:05] This is a verse I wish you'd look at. I won't be preaching to you much any longer. So, I really wish you'd get some of my favorite verses. Here's one. Genesis 18, 19. I wish you'd look at it. It says, I know him that he will command his children and his household after him.
[14:22] You know what, dads? You lead by example. It's after him. You know, it ought to be that your kids get up in the morning and they know dad read his Bible. I hope you read your Bible this morning, dad.
[14:33] I hope this morning you got up. You know, the day didn't start as early as it does on work days. So, this morning you should have spent some time in the Word of God. You say, I'm going to church. I'm going to get enough of it there.
[14:43] No, you need quiet time along with God. You ought to spend some prayer time. Your kids ought to know my dad reads his Bible. My dad prays. My dad seeks God's will. And then you command your children after them.
[14:57] That's what it says in Genesis 18, 19. He commands his children after him and they shall keep his way and they'll do right. The father who knows best will decide for his family that they will serve God.
[15:10] You know, it'll never be a vote. I don't think it would be in this church. But my kids, they knew better to ever say something like, I don't want to go to church today. That would have been the best way to wake up tomorrow.
[15:22] That means they'd be out today and get up tomorrow. They knew better than to say that. They knew. We're going to church. Our daddy's Austin Gardner.
[15:33] We go to church. We go to church. You ought to decide that. Don't let mama decide a husband. Don't let the wife be the spiritual leader of the home.
[15:45] We live in a feminized society. Good night. The church has been feminine way too long. Man up and lead your home. Joshua 24, 15.
[15:57] He said, choose you this day. But as for me and my family, me and my house, we will serve the Lord. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, all this is about discipline, by the way. The father who knows best will rule his house.
[16:10] Rule his house. Those are old-fashioned terms. Rule his house. That's exactly what the guy who was lost wrote about the father who knows. The father knows best.
[16:22] The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 5, if a man know not how to rule his own house, how else he'd take care of the church of God? He's talking about a pastor. And he's saying, you know, pastors ought to rule.
[16:33] You know, really, it's not you that tells the pastor what to do. It's supposed to be the pastor ruling. That's Bible. Go read it. Go read it. That's the pastor who's ruling. But, you know, the rule before he could make rules was he had to rule his own house.
[16:46] He had to have his wife and his children under control. The deacons, in verse 12, were to rule their own children and their own houses well. Last one before I give you some, maybe some other sides of this.
[16:58] I really want all the young people to understand this. Your dad ought to be leading your home. It's not a vote. It's not a democracy. See, I used to tell my kids, they said, Dad, do we get to vote?
[17:11] I said, oh, we all get to vote. There was four kids. I said, each of you get a vote. That's four of you. Mama gets five and I get 12. I'm going to win.
[17:22] Amen. A bunch of liberals. You don't think that's right. But the Bible said rule your own home. Now, let me just say this to all of us parents before I, I'm going to give you the other side of this.
[17:33] But let me just say this to you. The Bible's got one of the most interesting stories in 1 Samuel chapter 3. In verse 13. But in 1 Samuel chapter 3, Eli is in massive trouble before God.
[17:45] God's upset with Eli. And Eli's boys have grown up and they're in the ministry with Eli. And they're doing all the things in the ministry with Eli.
[17:56] And while they're doing all these things with Eli, they start doing a whole bunch of wicked stuff. Like they're misusing the offerings. They're actually committing sex sin in the temple, in the house of God, in the tabernacle.
[18:09] They're doing wrong. They're wicked people. And Eli's actually gone to them and said, you boys shouldn't do that. He actually did talk to them. But then the Bible says in 1 Samuel chapter 3 and verse 13, he said, I have told him that I will judge his house.
[18:26] I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows. He did wrong and he knows it. Because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not.
[18:39] I think so many times, dads, you try to act like you took a stand, but you didn't take a stand. You might have even said, I don't think God likes that son.
[18:49] And you probably ought not do that. You know what Eli should have done? He should have canned his boys. He said, this is the house of God. I choose God and what God wants before I choose what my sons and my boys want.
[19:00] I'm going to do what's the right thing. And if my family doesn't like it, I don't care. I chose to serve God. I don't want to be too ugly, but here it comes. You can't fire me.
[19:11] I quit. All righty. Ready? Are you ready? Your kid gets gender confused. You need to unconfuse them. I mean, you just need to tell them that ain't right.
[19:21] That ain't what the Bible said. You know what I tell people? I have people come to me as pastor of this church. I've had people come to me and say, I think I'm homosexual. For real, this has happened.
[19:32] I think I'm homosexual. I have homosexual attractions. And they say that to me. They said, I think I was born this way. I said, well, number one, I can tell you this. That's a lie. You weren't born that way.
[19:44] And I said, and number two, number two, you ought to obey God. Not what the world says. Not what you think. And that's what you parents. We need to take a stand. Your kid wants to go out on promiscuous dates.
[19:59] They want to go out and do things that are wrong. You know it's not right for them to have sex before they're married. Come on. Say amen. Don't shut your eyes and pretend not to know. Restrain your children.
[20:13] Say amen. I know you can't do something with them that have grown and gone. But you know what's sad? They're at home and you're still letting them do it. If they're grown and gone, that's one thing.
[20:24] That's between them and God. Because they're on their own now. And they're not honoring you. But they don't really have to obey you. But if they're at your home, we ought to take a stand. And could I get a weak amen?
[20:36] Some men ought to man up. I know people don't think that's true, but they ought to. But the father who knows best won't provoke his children to anger. That's what it says here. So I'd like to give you some things that I think may provoke anger in a home.
[20:51] And here comes a few that just to really make you mad at me too. Now I tried to tell the kids you were right to be the leader. But if you're too busy, dad, that can provoke a kid. Some dads are so hung up on money and position and all the things that the world offers that they got kids.
[21:09] And it's like, look, I helped you get here to the earth and I'll pay your bills and I'll buy you junk. But mama's going to raise you or somebody else is going to raise you. That'll hurt a kid. Parents ought not be too busy.
[21:23] They ought not neglect their children. Your priorities ought to be that God's first and your wife's second and your kids are third. And the job's fourth.
[21:35] Number two thing I think might provoke children is bringing the pressures of job home. You know, you go to work. Most of us, you know, I can, I could, as all of these years pastoring, I could go get, I could get reamed out by a guy in the church and I'm just having to sit there going.
[21:55] And in my heart, I'm going up, man, I'd like to shoot you. But I go, yes, you're right. I'm wrong. I'm sorry. And I got to go through all that. But you know what happens, don't you? It comes time to go home. When I get out of the car, I kick the dog.
[22:08] I don't have a dog. So don't get mad. But I kick the dog and beat the cat, yell at my wife and throw things at my kids. You do that too, don't you? You bring it home.
[22:20] I know that over the years, my kids had to put up with a lot of junk that shouldn't have happened like that. Sometimes I think that we like the part where it says we get to rule our homes and we enjoy that too much.
[22:33] So, you know, the Bible gives the truth that you ought to rule your home. But on the other side, our father rules, but he's sweet. Huh? Our father rules, but he's sweet.
[22:44] Our father rules, but he's not just domineering and dictatoring. We enjoy that too much. I think another thing that may provoke our children's wrath is that we overprotect.
[22:57] Mothers smother. And dads often do the same thing. And we're provoking our children. I grew up with this one.
[23:08] Never can do anything right. I never ran fast enough. I never found the tool quick enough. If I came home with 100 on a test, my dad would simply say, so you can make 100.
[23:24] Why don't you do it every time? If I came home with a 99, he'd say, well, you made 100 last time. What happened this time? Man, I didn't like that a bit. Be careful that you don't do that.
[23:37] Don't discipline them without giving them a reason or a cause. They ought to know why they're being disciplined. They don't have a right, but you ought to.
[23:48] God does that. God doesn't just, I mean, you don't just go walking down the road and I was like, boom, you fall dead. And you're like, I don't know what happened there. And the story where he said, I'm going to discipline Eli and his family because he didn't restrain it.
[24:00] It said right in the beginning of the verse, and he knows exactly why. Dad, talk to your children. Sit down with them. Fathers who spoil their children and have no rules or boundaries.
[24:13] That provokes kids to anger. Parents that have unrealistic goals. Parents that don't keep their promises. All right. Fathers who know best. I'll give you this one real quick.
[24:25] I've got to quit. I'm not even half through, but I'll quit. You need to listen to your wife. I'm an old guy.
[24:37] Maybe the oldest guy in the room. Don't you laugh. Oh, that's right. Thank you for being here, my brother.
[24:48] God bless you. You just moved me down to like fourth place. Amen. All right. You might be helping me. I don't know. We got to talk about ages here, but let me just, you know, I don't think we ought to make decisions or anything without talking to and listening to our wives.
[25:07] Let me give you the last part. I got four or five minutes. Let me just skip to the rest of it. By the way, can I just, I got my last part. I got more. I'll just skip on them. But how about this? Don't be an eye pleaser and don't teach your children to be eye pleasers.
[25:19] You know what I mean by that? I mean, I mean, you just tell them to do stuff. So, cause people are watching us and they know at home you're sneaking a drink and smoking a little dope or whatever.
[25:29] Did dumb stuff you're doing or looking at porn junk. They know what you're doing. They know you. They know you. And then you teach them to be the same hypocrite. Anyway. In the verse, it said that you are to bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
[25:46] So let me give you the last part, the positive part. That's the idea of feeding them and instructing them in the Lord. Man, how many of us are having family devotions that mama doesn't lead?
[25:59] When's the last time they saw the man of God who is dad sit down and open the word of God and say, I want to read you this passage of scripture. You don't need to make it three hours long. Lord, help me. Don't do that. You know, 10 minutes.
[26:11] Just get her done. You know, say it quickly. I said, I'm going to listen to one of pastor's sermons right before he got COVID.
[26:22] And I leaned over to Betty. I said, I hope we don't have to listen to all of it. I didn't want to listen to all of it. I'm just saying, keep her short. But teach them and challenge them.
[26:34] Teach them and challenge them. Bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Teach them how to make decisions by being in prayer to God about things. Teach them how to read the Bible and how to pray. Spend time in the word of God with your family.
[26:47] Bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. They are getting enough junk. You let them, you mind numb them with that iPad junk you do.
[26:59] You mind numb them with your cell phone. You mind numb them with, you're bringing up zombies. You're bringing up zombies. And then you send them off to a school where they tell them a bunch of garbage.
[27:14] And what they confuse them about their gender. So somebody needs to set the family down and say, this is the moment of truth. Dad has the book in his lap.
[27:25] And dad's going to read from the book. And we're going to learn what God has to say. And I'm going to teach you about our father. In heaven. Express your love to your children.
[27:38] Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But a father who knows best will express his love for his children. My dad was a... My dad loved me.
[27:50] I didn't know it for a long, long time. And even now when I think back, I realize it. And I see things I didn't see. But you know, my dad probably... He died...
[28:01] I was 50 or so when he died. I guess I don't know how old I was. 55. When he died. You know, I don't know. He told me he loved me 10 times in all my life. That I can remember.
[28:16] We were riding down the road one day. And he'd gotten pretty old. You know, he was like my age. Or 70. I don't know. Riding down the road. And he goes... He said, Son, you know, I don't ever say this to you.
[28:30] But I love you. And he started tearing up. He said, And if you ever tell anybody I said this, I'll kill you. And don't you dare tell them I cried.
[28:42] I was talking to the Mexican guy that taught me Spanish 30 years ago. And one day I looked at him and in Spanish I said, I love you. And he said, Oh, don't say that. He said, We're not man and woman. He said, At least I love you in the Lord.
[28:57] I said, Okay, I love you in the Lord like a brother. But you know, Dads, They need to hear that you love them. We're not expressive enough. And the funeral comes and then we have to make it up, huh?
[29:09] Your children ought to be exhorted and comforted by you. In 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 11, As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his children.
[29:22] That's what the Holy Spirit had put in there. That a father exhorts, motivates, gives courage, gives them the excitement, the motivation.
[29:33] And a father comforts them when things don't work out right. And a father charges them. That'll be what we do. Today's Father's Day. What a wonderful day.
[29:43] You know, it's a wonderful day because God let us be dads. It's a wonderful day because God let us be dads. Hey, you better enjoy your one day of the year. Say amen. I mean, Mother's Day is like a hundred times bigger.
[29:54] You ever notice that amen? I mean, like on Mama's Day, you buy a new house. On Father's Day, you get a tie. You know. Come on.
[30:04] But dads, we ought to take it seriously. We ought to take it seriously. The greatest responsibility. You know, one of the biggest responsibilities I've had for the last 15 years is to be the pastor of this church and preach the word of God to you.
[30:20] And I have loved it. I have loved it. But a far greater responsibility I've had for the last 40, almost 48 years. I've been the pastor and the husband of Betty.
[30:35] And for the last 45, almost 46 years, I've been the dad and the pastor of Chris. And then the youngest is 35, almost 36. Dad, it's a big deal.
[30:49] It's a big deal. You are dad. Now, if you're not saved, you can't be a good dad. Can we just be honest?
[31:00] You don't even understand what a real dad's like because the only real dad who's worthy of imitation is God the Father. Amen. God the Father loved us so much he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[31:14] God loved us. And you know what? The fact is, when somebody wants to accuse us before our father, he says, who is he that accuses you? I'm the one that's paid your sin debt. So it don't matter what the rest of them got to say.
[31:26] Amen. I mean, God's like, hey, I'm judge and jury. So let them rant and rave about you, but I'm on your side. I'm your dad. Amen. Amen. Amen. So if you're not saved, today's the day to get saved.
[31:39] You see, what do you mean get saved? I mean by that, that whether or not you realize it, you can be a strong and healthy human being, but sooner or later you're going to die.
[31:50] And your sin separates you from God. Now, you're alive today and the gates of acceptance are open and God is willing to save you today. Today is the day of salvation.
[32:00] Today is an accepted day. And you can be saved, but you're not going to get saved just because you go to a Baptist church. You're not going to get saved because your daddy got saved. You're not going to get saved because your mama got saved. You're going to get saved because you realize you were wrong.
[32:15] You sinned against the Holy God. And your sin separated you from God and destined you to a place that God never intended you to go. He made hell for the devil and his angels.
[32:27] He didn't make it for us. He never made that for one human being. But if you want to rebel like the devil rebelled, you'll get what the devil's got coming. God never wanted that. God loves you so much that he sent Jesus to die in your place.
[32:40] And Jesus died on a cross for you. And he took every bit of your sin. He's already paid for it. There's not a person in this room, not a person on this planet. Jesus has already paid the price.
[32:51] He has paid the price. When he was on the cross, he said, it is finished. The payment for salvation is done. You can be saved. It's a free gift. The Bible says in Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death.
[33:03] But the gift of God is eternal life. I want you to be saved today. The Christians in this room want you to be saved. Every believer in this room, we want you to be saved. None of us look down on you.
[33:15] None of us think of you as less than us because we were all where you are. Until Jesus saved us. And he saved us and gave us new life. And so we challenge you to trust Christ as your Savior. Father in heaven, I pray you'd work today.
[33:27] I pray your name will be glorified and honored. And I will do everything in my power to serve you and honor you today. I pray, God, that your name would be glorified. God, save that person that's in the room that's not been saved yet.
[33:38] I pray you'd save them. I pray, God, that you would save them and help them to know for sure they go to heaven when they die. And then, God, some of us dads are falling down in our relationship with our family like we ought to have it.
[33:53] We're not doing what we ought to do. And so, God, I want to ask you to touch every dad and every family and every person in the room. And I want to ask you to help us decide today to pick up whatever we're slacking in.
[34:08] To be the leaders in our homes like we ought to be. And to be the godly fathers you called us to be. With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're here and you're not saved, I want you to know that God loves you.
[34:19] And Jesus loves you. Jesus died on the cross for you. Paid your sin debt. Everybody in this room can be saved if you trust God. Just trust him and he'll save you. Thank you, God. Amen.
[34:29] Amen. Thank you.